4 false narratives confusing our understanding of mixed reality

A couple weeks ago, I moderated a panel at the inaugural SplitX: VR/AR Summit, where we explored the false narratives that have been souring the milk, so to speak, in the mixed reality industry for several years now and which have served to aggravate an already volatile market and extend its hype cycle by setting startups and companies up to fail. Krasimir Nikilov, cofounder & CEO at Quark VR, harks it back to a Bill Gates quote on the human tendency to “overestimate the two year impact of technology, and underestimate the ten year impact,” which I definitely think seems to be a root factor at play. Regardless, the collateral damage is very real and I’d like to share some of the primary narratives that were scrutinized during the panel. So what are the four false narratives that are damaging mixed reality? East versus West The first relates to a piece I published last month, where I encouraged startups and companies to embrace China’s mixed reality market. This is an especially tough sell when the majority of pundits, big industry players, and of course the media, continually portray the Asian giant as a foe rather than a friend. Indeed, the tired attempt is to frame the market as a fierce rival rather than a natural complement to the west. “The media loves to emphasize the ongoing war between the two of them for the sole reason of recreating a good old East vs West story. Meanwhile, the west adopts the ‘they’re… [Read full story]